The best AI dictation, transcription and meeting notes apps for Windows

1. Superwhisper — AI Dictation App

Best for: Free offline dictation with an optional AI upgrade

• Freeware
• Free
• AI tools

Superwhisper sits in the system tray: press a shortcut, speak, and the text is pasted into the app you are using. The free plan gives unlimited dictation with local Whisper models, custom vocabulary, text replacements and up to two modes without AI processing, and with local models the audio never leaves your PC.

Pro adds AI modes that rewrite text, cloud models, context awareness and file and system audio transcription, for $8.49 a month, $84.99 a year or $249.99 once, with one license for all devices. The best local models are Pro-only, and large local models are slow without a Vulkan-capable GPU. If you want free offline dictation from open-source software, Handy is the alternative.

2. Wispr Flow — AI Dictation App

Best for: Fast, AI-polished dictation for email and chat

• Freeware
• Free
• AI tools

Wispr Flow types into any application and applies AI auto-edits before pasting, so dictated email and chat messages come out cleaner than raw transcripts. It supports more than 100 languages, learns names and jargon through a personal dictionary, and expands spoken cues into saved snippets. Its Notetaker records meetings from your device without adding a bot to the call.

Transcription always runs on Wispr's servers, so there is no offline mode and an account is required. Audio is deleted after transcription unless you enable cloud storage, and model training can be switched off. The free plan includes 2,000 words a week on desktop; Pro costs $15 per user per month, or $12 billed annually. For offline dictation, choose Superwhisper or Handy.

3. Handy — AI Dictation App

Best for: Completely free, private dictation

• Open source
• Free
• AI tools

Handy is open source under the MIT license and has no paid tier. You hold or toggle a global shortcut, speak, and the text is pasted into the active field. Transcription runs locally with Whisper Small to Large, using the GPU when available, or the CPU-optimized Parakeet V3 with automatic language detection, and no account is needed.

It only types what you say: there is no AI rewriting, tone modes or meeting transcription, which Wispr Flow and Superwhisper Pro offer. It is still a 0.x version that changes quickly, and large Whisper models are slow without a GPU. For people with RSI, writers and developers who want private dictation, it is the simplest free option.

4. Buzz — AI Transcription App

Best for: Offline transcripts and subtitles from files and live audio

• Open source
• Free
• AI tools

Buzz is an open-source transcription workbench: it transcribes and translates audio and video files and YouTube links, captions the microphone live with a presentation window, identifies speakers and exports TXT, SRT and VTT. It can separate speech from background noise first, and a watch folder, command-line interface and plugins handle automation. Everything runs locally with Whisper models.

It supports whisper.cpp with Vulkan acceleration on most GPUs including integrated ones, and CUDA on NVIDIA. The Windows download is very large, about 2.7 GB, and the unsigned installer triggers a SmartScreen warning. Compared with Vibe, Buzz has live captions; Vibe has more export formats and batch folders.

5. Vibe — AI Transcription App

Best for: Batch transcription with many export formats

• Open source
• Free
• AI tools

Vibe transcribes files, whole folders in batch mode, the microphone, system audio and online video links on your own device, in close to 100 languages. Besides Whisper models it supports NVIDIA Parakeet TDT v3 and Nemotron, uses the GPU through Vulkan on NVIDIA, AMD and Intel cards, and separates speakers without a cloud service. Exports include SRT, VTT, TXT, HTML, PDF, JSON and DOCX.

Optional summaries run locally with an Ollama model or online with your own paid Claude API key, which is the only option that sends text out. Models are separate downloads, and large ones need a decent GPU. Vibe does not type into other apps, so pair it with a dictation tool such as Handy if you need both.

6. Granola — AI Meeting Notes App

Best for: Meeting notes without a bot joining the call

• Freeware
• Free
• AI tools

Granola captures your microphone and system audio, so it works with Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and in-person conversations without adding a bot. You type rough notes during the meeting, and afterwards Granola combines them with the transcript into structured notes using templates. AI chat answers questions within one meeting or across all of them.

Processing is cloud-based, with providers such as Deepgram, Assembly, OpenAI and Anthropic, and a Google or Microsoft account is required. Audio is deleted after transcription, so there is no playback, and transcripts live in Granola's cloud. The free Basic plan keeps only 30 days of history; Business costs $14 per user per month. For meetings that must stay on your PC, use Meetily.

7. Meetily — AI Meeting Notes App

Best for: Private meeting transcripts on your own PC

• Open source
• Free
• AI tools

Meetily records microphone and system audio from any meeting app, transcribes it in real time with local Whisper or Parakeet models and stores recordings and transcripts on your device. Summaries use a local model through Ollama, which works offline, or your own API key for Claude, OpenAI, Groq, OpenRouter or another OpenAI-compatible endpoint.

The free Community Edition is open source under the MIT license, but speaker identification, meeting auto-detection, calendar integration and PDF or DOCX exports are reserved for the paid Pro edition. The Windows build needs a CPU with AVX2, and summary quality depends on the model you set up. Granola is more polished but sends everything to the cloud.